Helskir was the first independent
kingdom to be accepted into the Empire of Thyatis. As such, the
king and queen of the land have absolute control over the laws,
even to the point where they can overrule any Thyatian Imperial
Law. In fact, the nation doesn't even pay any taxes to the Empire,
nor must it provide military troops for the Legion. In all
respects, it is an independent nation with only formal ties to the
Empire. Only if the Emperor himself declares war on another nation
must Helskir participate in Imperial politics and send its troops
out with the Legion.

Helskir has its own armies and
navies, yet the Legion is also present in this nation. A Helskan
officer is always considered to be of higher rank than a
Legionnaire, and their orders always come first. They can give us
orders, yet the Legion has no say as to what the Helskan Army
does. In fact, Helskir still has its own senator representing them
in the Imperial Senate. Helskir is therefore independent of
Thyatian orders, yet able to itself influence the orders of the
Empire.

Is this in fact the start of a new
age for the Empire of Thyatis? Is the chain of command among the
nobility being destroyed and replaced with this new form of
government? I can't help but noticing that independent kingdoms
loosely allied together with an Emperor in charge of only the
military and foreign affairs sounds way too much like the Empire of
Alphatia. Is it a better system? I personally don't think so, as
each nation has its own armies, and it makes coordinating military
activities extremely difficult. Still, I'm a warrior and not a
politician, so I'll let our leaders decide what will become of our
Empire.

The
Land

Helskir is a very small kingdom, and
it only takes a couple of days to patrol the entire border. The
vast majority of the northern coastal area is fertile farmlands
which provides slightly more food than needed by the people of
Helskir.

The southwestern borders end at
Demeran's Moor. The land is often shrouded in fog, making it very
dangerous to patrol. Various bandits, goblinoids, and
lizard-monsters make their lairs in this swamp, and strike from
their fog-hidden ambushes. In fact, many a brave Legionnaire has
lost his life patrolling that area.

The southeastern borders of the land
are much more rocky and unsuitable for farming. This is were the
Helskans herd their goats. Further past the border into Dunadale,
the land rises higher and higher until it finally drops several
hundred meters and the Herdane Escarpment. This natural feature is
in fact clearly within the borders of Dunadale, patrols of Helskir
often go as far as the Escarpment. Another one of their "enter
Thyatian territory with impunity but we follow their orders"
advantages. I'll never understand nobles and
politicians.

The city of Helskir itself is
rapidly growing. New city walls have been built to better defend
the thriving community, and Helskir is becoming one of the major
trade centres of this region of the world. Strategic buildings
also have a wooden palisade protecting them. Helskir has a deep
harbour which can dock many ships at once, a fact that has helped
them achieve their trade market dominance.

The
People

Like most Isle of Dawners, Helskans
have learned to ignore most rulers and simply get on with their
lives. In fact, Helskir has changed from Thyatian to Alphatian
rulership and vice-versa so many times that Helskans have lost
count. Strangely enough, regardless of which Empire Helskir has
belonged to, Eruul Zaar has always been the ruler of this
town.

Helskians are of Alphatian descent,
but have abandoned all ties to the Empire of Alphatia. Until
recently, many feared that Helskir would be the first place to be
destroyed should the two empires go to war. In fact, this has been
the only city spared from the famous Wrath of the Immortals and the
aftermath that followed. This is another reason their economy is
prospering. Helskans now look forward to a bright
future.

Recent
History

Helskir is a young nation. Just over
40 years ago, Helskir was nothing more than a simple fishing
village. In fact, Eruul Zaar himself founded the village and
brought it to the predominance it has today. When the fishing trade
started to become lucrative, both the Empires of Thyatis and
Alphatia began to take interest in the town, and both have claimed
it numerous times. Eruul Zaar remained independent from both, yet
claimed to follow whoever was in charge. He had the armies fight
for rulership outside of town and declared that he would dutifully
follow whoever won the battle. Hence, whenever Helskir changed
empires, Zaar still remained the ruler of the town. On many
occasions, especially when the Alphatians and Thyatians almost
wiped each other out, Zaar even went so far as declaring Helskir
independent from both Empires. With all this shuffling around and
battles for the small town, it is no wonder that most Helskans
feared the future.

In AC 994, Helskir served as the
neutral meeting grounds to discuss future expansions for both
Empires. Hotly contested were the lands of Norwold, recently
granted [that is, in AC 990. Ed.] to Ericall, son of Empress
Eriadna of Alphatia. In fact, Emperor Thincol and Empress Eriadna
themselves both appeared at this meeting, only to be kidnapped by
forces of Alphaks. Brave adventurers rescued the two rulers in a
heroic quest onto the Great Escarpment where they faced the
intelligent spiders that are now plaguing the southern Isle of Dawn
once more [this heroic quest is often told by bards; just ask them
to tell you about the M5 - Talons of Night adventure. Ed.]. In the
end, King Ericall retained his title over Norwold.

In AC 1008, during the heat of the
battle for the Isle of Dawn, Eruul Zaar married Asteriela Torion,
daughter of the Emperor of Thyatis, and was declared king of
Helskir by the Empress of Alphatia. Thyatis was forced to recognise
the kingship in AC 1009 when it signed a peace treaty with
Alphatia, shortly before the Immortals sank their
continent.

Helskir remained independent until
AC 1012, when it voluntarily joined the Empire of Thyatis in fear
of an invasion from Thothia. Emperor Eusebius agreed that the ties
between Helskir and Thyatis would be mere formalities and that
Helskir would in fact remain an independent nation with the
protection of the Empire. Thothia never did invade, and peace was
re-established with the Isle of Dawn Treaty that same
year.

Don't
Miss

There is not much to see in Helskir
proper, except for the lighthouse which guides ships to the safe
deep-water harbour. This building is a good 15 stories in height,
and its base must be at least 15 meters. A huge magical fire lights
the top of this tower, and this reportedly allows ships to spot it
from at least 150 kilometres (100 miles) away. In fact, this is the
biggest lighthouse known in the world. Luckily, mirrors aim the
light toward the sea, otherwise people would hardly be able to
sleep during the night.

The market of Helskir is also a
popular place for off-duty Legionnaires. Here, they can find
trinkets from all around the world. In fact, any ship that has
sailed the Alphatian Sea of Sea of Dawn has probably stopped in
Helskir at one point. Although Thyatian coins are the standard for
this kingdom, coins from any nation are accepted by most merchants
from the market of Helskir.